The current exhibition on display at the Denbighshire Archives features the Castle Hotel, Ruthin, which has recently been refurbished by Wetherspoons. The exhibition includes postcard images and photographs of the Castle through the decades as well as census records dating from 1861 to 1911.
The 1861 census is particularly interesting as it includes the names and occupations of the guests who were staying at the Hotel, which was at that time called the White Lion. This helps to flesh out the lives of some of the people who have passed through the hotel doors over the years.
Also featured are a number of advertisements for the hotel taken from travel guides between 1856 and 1930. The Gossiping Guide to Wales, 1856, describes a visit made to Ruthin by train. The Hotel, is described as standing in ‘a most foreign looking place’ and goes on to mention that upon arriving at the station there was no ‘English speaking porter’ to be found.
There is also a newspaper report from the Denbighshire Free Press in 1883, of a grand wedding breakfast and evening party held at the Castle Hotel.
The opening hours for the Record Office at Ruthin Gaol are:
Monday CLOSED
Tuesday 9.30 4:30
Wednesday 9.30 4:30
Thursday 9.30 4:30
Friday 9.30 4:30
